Federalizing Gay Marriage

Andrew Sullivan defends same-sex marriage as a “federalist” who is willing to wait for States to make the change. Not everyone is so patient, or Constitutional.

CNN reports today that “Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department will issue a memo Monday that recognizes same-sex marriages ‘to the greatest extent possible under the law.’”

This includes extending those benefits to States that do not recognize same-sex marriage: “a same-sex couple legally married in Massachusetts can now have their federal bankruptcy proceeding recognized in Alabama, even though it doesn’t allow same-sex marriages. In the past, the U.S. government could challenge the couple’s joint bankruptcy because Alabama doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage.”

As Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, puts it, this can only serve “to undermine the authority and sovereignty of the states to make their own determinations regulating the institution of marriage.”